My New Year's Eve Message from Metropolis/CC 3 3

[Zolnerowich]

Of course it's not their fault. Though their timing could've been better. This is a major bummer. And I quote:

METROPOLIS/COMICCONNECT UPDATE -- a special note regarding the new online sales tax requirements

Dear valued clientele,

 You may have recently heard from other online retailers about the new
sales tax laws that are being enacted nationwide requiring sales tax
be charged for all online orders. Each online retailer must collect
the applicable sales tax for the state, city, or county to which the
order is being shipped. In the past, we were required to charge sales
tax only for purchases shipping within New York State, where
Metropolis and ComicConnect have a physical presence, but this new law
requires all internet businesses to charge the applicable tax rate
regardless of their home state or city.

 We understand this additional cost is not welcome, but unfortunately,
this is the law as set forth by the Supreme Court ruling in the South
Dakota v. Wayfair case. In other words, due to the Wayfair ruling,
even if the merchant does not have a physical presence in a state, and
the seller passes the state’s economic threshold for total revenue
or number of transactions in that state, the seller is legally
obligated to collect and remit sales tax to that state. Obviously, we
are legally bound to comply with this ruling. 

 We are currently working on a new and vastly improved inventory and
web commerce software to provide not only improved features on our
sites, but also an improved customer experience and one which will
comply with these newly enacted laws. Until our new site is ready in
early 2019, we’ll be applying sales tax to web orders after
receiving them from our site, while orders placed directly with us by
phone or email will have the applicable sales tax added while we take
your order. The tax rate is determined by the shipping address and the
new total including the applicable tax that was charged will be
emailed to you when your items are ready to be shipped.

 All sales are subject to all applicable state and local taxes unless
a properly completed state issued resale certificate is physically on
file with Metropolis Collectibles or ComicConnect prior to the close
of an auction or purchase. If you have an applicable certificate
please email, fax or mail it to our office.

 At this time, we are required by law to collect sales tax on orders
shipped to IL, MD, ME, MI, MN, NY, NJ, PA and WA. 

 We appreciate your patience and loyalty and continued patronage and
strive to make this change as painless and smooth as possible. If you
have any questions, please feel free to contact us.
 

-------------------------------

[SushiX]

Okay, 2 questions

1 so no tax in California?

2 what about existing books a payment plan?

[batman_fan]

3 hours ago, Zolnerowich said:

Of course it's not their fault. Though their timing could've been better. This is a major bummer. And I quote:

METROPOLIS/COMICCONNECT UPDATE -- a special note regarding the new online sales tax requirements

Dear valued clientele,

 You may have recently heard from other online retailers about the new
sales tax laws that are being enacted nationwide requiring sales tax
be charged for all online orders. Each online retailer must collect
the applicable sales tax for the state, city, or county to which the
order is being shipped. In the past, we were required to charge sales
tax only for purchases shipping within New York State, where
Metropolis and ComicConnect have a physical presence, but this new law
requires all internet businesses to charge the applicable tax rate
regardless of their home state or city.

 We understand this additional cost is not welcome, but unfortunately,
this is the law as set forth by the Supreme Court ruling in the South
Dakota v. Wayfair case. In other words, due to the Wayfair ruling,
even if the merchant does not have a physical presence in a state, and
the seller passes the state’s economic threshold for total revenue
or number of transactions in that state, the seller is legally
obligated to collect and remit sales tax to that state. Obviously, we
are legally bound to comply with this ruling. 

 We are currently working on a new and vastly improved inventory and
web commerce software to provide not only improved features on our
sites, but also an improved customer experience and one which will
comply with these newly enacted laws. Until our new site is ready in
early 2019, we’ll be applying sales tax to web orders after
receiving them from our site, while orders placed directly with us by
phone or email will have the applicable sales tax added while we take
your order. The tax rate is determined by the shipping address and the
new total including the applicable tax that was charged will be
emailed to you when your items are ready to be shipped.

 All sales are subject to all applicable state and local taxes unless
a properly completed state issued resale certificate is physically on
file with Metropolis Collectibles or ComicConnect prior to the close
of an auction or purchase. If you have an applicable certificate
please email, fax or mail it to our office.

 At this time, we are required by law to collect sales tax on orders
shipped to IL, MD, ME, MI, MN, NY, NJ, PA and WA. 

 We appreciate your patience and loyalty and continued patronage and
strive to make this change as painless and smooth as possible. If you
have any questions, please feel free to contact us.
 

-------------------------------

That's way better than the one I got from them !

Dear valued clientele,

It puts the lotion in the basket or it gets the hose again.

Fondest regards,

Metropolis

[jimjum12]

On the bright side.... the value(price) of all our collectibles will be going up by 7 to 11 %.

All kidding aside, I've been dreading this for a while. I have a small business in addition to my regular job . keep records, pay taxes on the earnings, etc.... this basically involves selling old comics. Often my profit margin is barely 10%, so it doesn't take a financial genius to see that my endeavors will be edging closer to the area of pointlessness. I could always attempt to add on the sales tax, which I may try, but I'm already seeing price resistance without the tax added. It would be one thing if all I had to do was collect sales tax for ALL sales and pay to ONE place, but this is potentially 50 different entities with their hands out. At this point, I'm leaning towards either just getting out, or going strictly with Auction/Consignment sites who collect sales tax on their end. I expect this to have a dramatic effect on small internet based businesses everywhere, not just comics. As much as I hear about the state of the economy, most folks I know won't be able to just poop out an additional 10% for every online purchase they make. GOD BLESS...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

 

Edited January 1, 2019 by jimjum12

[jimjum12]

.

 

 

Edited January 1, 2019 by jimjum12

[telerites]

11 minutes ago, jimjum12 said:

.

 

 

[rabidwolf]

I thought the internet sales tax applies to a seller only if that seller sells a certain amount per each state

 

ie if your sales to state A are over 50k annual 

your sales to state B Are over 50k

[tth2]

1 hour ago, batman_fan said:

That's way better than the one I got from them !

Dear valued clientele,

It puts the lotion in the basket or it gets the hose again.

Fondest regards,

Metropolis

[jimjum12]

12 minutes ago, rabidwolf said:

I thought the internet sales tax applies to a seller only if that seller sells a certain amount per each state

 

ie if your sales to state A are over 50k annual 

your sales to state B Are over 50k

I'm still in the process of figuring that out...… I'm hoping to find a website or something that I can trust to provide accurate information about this.... it may even vary from State to State. Oddly enough, when all I was responsible for was my home State, I had almost NO sales here for several years straight. Almost everything here was trade related. GOD BLESS....

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

5 hours ago, Zolnerowich said:

The tax rate is determined by the shipping address and the
new total including the applicable tax that was charged will be
emailed to you when your items are ready to be shipped.

I just got an email today that my Tec 35 and Planet 58 winnings shipped today, but there was no mention of sales tax. Maybe because it shipped the last day of 2018?

 

I’m not sure how I would have felt about having to fork over another $3k without forewarning

 

oh, wait. I read it too quickly.  No sales tax in Texas.  Well I never much liked the fact that I’ve had to pay sales tax to Heritage all these years for no other reason than I happened to live in Texas.  At least for the moment, I’m catching a break from my new best friend CC.

Edited January 1, 2019 by GreatCaesarsGhost

[G.A.tor]

As of right now the sd decision only applies to sellers that sell over 100k in that state or make over 200 transactions in that state 

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

1 hour ago, G.A.tor said:

As of right now the sd decision only applies to sellers that sell over 100k in that state or make over 200 transactions in that state 

Ok when I tried to read it last night there were champagne corks popping and stupidity everywhere.  Now, the next morning, I can actually read what Zolnerowich said.  The $100k limitation isn’t in there, so Gator you must have access to something more.  Is this a federal tax thing? Anyway, if you have to sell over $100k in a single state before the taxes apply, that’s not going to directly affect too many of us.  I think it’ll affect auction houses in a big way.  They are going to have to find a way to pass it along to us, or they are in trouble.  

On the state tax front, from what I have read, there are currently only a handful of states that have adopted rules to collect state and local sales taxes on internet purchases made from out-of-state sellers who do not have a physical bricks-and-mortar presence in the buyer’s state.  That will change, I predict.  All 50 states will have their hands out soon enough.

 

Edited January 1, 2019 by GreatCaesarsGhost

[G.A.tor]

1 hour ago, GreatCaesarsGhost said:

Ok when I tried to read it last night there were champagne corks popping and stupidity everywhere.  Now, the next morning, I can actually read what Zolnerowich said.  The $100k limitation isn’t in there, so Gator you must have access to something more.  Is this a federal tax thing? Anyway, if you have to sell over $100k in a single state before the taxes apply, that’s not going to directly affect too many of us.  I think it’ll affect auction houses in a big way.  They are going to have to find a way to pass it along to us, or they are in trouble.  

On the state tax front, from what I have read, there are currently only a handful of states that have adopted rules to collect state and local sales taxes on internet purchases made from out-of-state sellers who do not have a physical bricks-and-mortar presence in the buyer’s state.  That will change, I predict.  All 50 states will have their hands out soon enough.

 

It was in the decision from the courts that I read. 

[ALM3]

The Wayfair decision only applies to sales activities which have a "substantial nexus with the taxing state."  South Dakota required sales tax to be required where there were more than 200 transactions in the state or the total sales in the state exceeded 100k.  The supreme Court found that was a "substantial nexus" to trigger South Dakota's sales tax requirement. 

The decision does not say what a "substantial nexus" would be, it just says that the 200 transactions / 100k in sales is a substantial nexus.

So for it to apply to ebay resellers and at home sellers several things would have to apply - 1) the buyer would have to be in a state which has an internet sales tax requirement (most do not); 2) the total sales from the seller to buyers in that state would have to be "substantial".  I would use the 100k/200 transactions as a guidepost of what substantial should mean.

In sum, for the typical blokes buying and selling on here / feebay/ etc. - I wouldn't worry about it.  For large online retailers - amazon/metropolis/milehigh - they do.

[telerites]

The thing that barnicles me most about states passing this and the fed court allowing it is that the states receive consumer tax and yet do not have any resources involved.  I might be in the wrong place with this but it seems a tax incurred should be to alleviate and/or defray costs incurred.  States do not involve staff, technology resources, etc. when a sale is made.  I thought is was bad enough if the seller had a physical presence in the state allowing collection of tax but I could make that leap.  This one, not so much.  

Death and taxes and all, I guess...

Edited January 1, 2019 by telerites

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

22 minutes ago, ALM3 said:

The Wayfair decision only applies to sales activities which have a "substantial nexus with the taxing state."  South Dakota required sales tax to be required where there were more than 200 transactions in the state or the total sales in the state exceeded 100k.  The supreme Court found that was a "substantial nexus" to trigger South Dakota's sales tax requirement. 

The decision does not say what a "substantial nexus" would be, it just says that the 200 transactions / 100k in sales is a substantial nexus.

So for it to apply to ebay resellers and at home sellers several things would have to apply - 1) the buyer would have to be in a state which has an internet sales tax requirement (most do not); 2) the total sales from the seller to buyers in that state would have to be "substantial".  I would use the 100k/200 transactions as a guidepost of what substantial should mean.

In sum, for the typical blokes buying and selling on here / feebay/ etc. - I wouldn't worry about it.  For large online retailers - amazon/metropolis/milehigh - they do.

When all 50 states jump on the bandwagon (and that is WHEN, not IF), any privately sold book $100k or over will for sure be affected by this. And as these states become emboldened and get grabbier, some may decide a single $50k book is enough of a “substantial nexus” to justify a state tax.  This will add pressure to a private seller of even a single book to report the transaction. And if they report it, they better have collected the tax.

i don’t like the implications here, and how it may affect the health of our hobby

[Badger]

Here's a dumb question: You are happily selling your small offerings throughout the year, never collecting sales tax because you wish you sold more than 200 items to customers in a single state or $100,000 in merchandise, but it just does not happen. Somehow, miracle of miracles, at the last minute of the year you sell that 201st item to some nice guy in MD. Does the sales tax rule only apply to that 201st item, and any others you sell, to customers in MD, after that point in the calendar year, or do you have to review all of your transactions throughout the year, find the ones for the state of MD, and retroactively pay sales tax on them? If it is just the 201st item and those after, then that's manageable but if its retroactive to the initial 200 items that could become a costly nightmare.

 

Actually, another dumb question: Who knows when you have exceeded that threshold? If you sell on eBay, they know. Paypal more than likely knows. Who reports it? Is Paypal going to be required to send 1099s, or state equiv, for every state you have done business in? Passing the laws that businesses must pay taxes is just the first step in collection. Next comes the paperwork and bureaucracy. It does not take much imagination to see that the states will want some kind of reporting method, from the payment processors and or Internet sales sites, of applicable transactions so that they get their pound of flesh.

[Cliff R.]

Found a chart of online tax info by state :

https://sovos.com/economic-nexus-state-rules/

How can a small online business know in advance if its sales to a particular state will exceed the threshold?  I don't get it.

 

[MrBedrock]

10 hours ago, rabidwolf said:

I thought the internet sales tax applies to a seller only if that seller sells a certain amount per each state

 

ie if your sales to state A are over 50k annual 

your sales to state B Are over 50k

It is dependent on the laws and/or tax regulations of each state. With most states simply conducting business there requires collecting sales tax. Dealers are supposed to file sales tax returns in most states where they set up at conventions, even if they just set up for promotion and have no sales.

[topcat54]

 Is Paypal going to be required to send 1099s

Well from what I understand is that pay pal already sends out 1099's if you have over 200 transactions in a year or receive over so much money in a year.

Ok so I found the answer I was looking for: 

for reporting to the IRS, 

PayPal will track the payment volume of your account(s) to check whether your payment volume exceeds both of these levels in a calendar year:

• $20,000 USD in gross payment volume from sales of goods or services in a single year
• 200 payments for goods or services in the same year